New Moon Eclipse in Gemini on June 1

The new moon, of no importance
lingers behind as the yellow sun glares
and is gone beyond the sea's edge;
earth smokes blue;
the new moon, in cool height above the blushes,
brings a fresh fragrance of heaven to our senses.

--By D.H. Lawrence --
 

 

An Eclipse signifies an intense time of energy that has the power to spark the beginning or end of relationships and situations; its  effect can be felt before and for months after the eclipse. A Solar Eclipse occurs when the Moon is New and a Lunar Eclipse occurs on the Full Moon.   This New Moon  in Gemini brings with it the first of three eclipses that occur one right after another in June and July.  This will be a partial solar eclipse of the sun, one
in which the Moon blocks the part of a Sun’s face. Eclipses tend to bring abrupt change, usually too fast for comfort.

Most ancient cultures felt awe each time the sun rose and feared any unusual appearance or event they witnessed in their sky.  The heavens

were supposed to act in an orderly fashion; hence, anything out of the ordinary, such as a solar or lunar eclipse, instilled terror in our ancient ancestors.  To the ancient peoples, an eclipse was a bad omen who believed that this was a sign of displeasure of the gods.  In many ancient cultures, a solar eclipse was seen as a battle between the Sun and spirits of darkness.

The New Moon is a time of new beginnings, a time to start new projects and endeavors. Mercury is the ruling planet of Gemini; hence, the focus here will be on learning and education, and around communication and relationship. The Sun in Gemini accents fresh directions, and the New Moon marks the time to take chances. This is a great time to pursue academic interests and to take care of communications both verbal and written. This will also be an excellent time to look for a new job or enroll in a new course. 

During this Lunar phase, it is a perfect time to plant mental seeds for what you want to create in the future.  Think about all of the new ideas you would like to put into action and look for ways to bring these ideas to fruition.  Focus on what you would like to manifest during the next month. Make a list today, but be sure to keep in mind that Gemini deals with friends, networking, communication.  The following are some of the things you might want to do during this Gemini New Moon:

Look for a new job

Do some writing

Work on adaptability

Visit the library

Research new ideas

Work on short term projects

Take a class for fun

Write or call old friends

Dig out your favorite book and re-read it.

May 30 Memorial Day

Soldier, rest! Thy warfare o'er,

Sleep the sleep that knows not breaking,

Dream of battled fields no more.

Days of danger, nights of waking. -Sir Walter Scott

For many, the Memorial Day weekend is nothing more than the unofficial start to summer, and the earlier custom of cleaning cemeteries and decorating graves as a way of paying homage to the dead has largely been replaced with picnics and reunion.  Others relate this holiday to an extra day off work to catch up on some rest.  And still others, yet, relate this holiday to play golf and hit the summer sales events.  The sad fact is that while many still do observe Memorial Day as it should be, the show of patriotism decreases year after year.

It began as a day when family, friends, and perhaps even strangers would decorate the graves of the fallen Civil War soldiers with flowers and flags; hence, it was originally called Decoration Day.  Then, after World War I it also recognized all American service men and women who served in wartime and were killed in the military, as well as a time to honor those still fighting today.  And, while  many do take this time to pay their respects, there are those who have forgotten the true meaning of this day and what it commemorates. 

If you are like me, you probably have several ancestors or loved ones who gave their lives for our freedom. Let yourself remember your loved one, both the laughter and the pain and share with others.  Remembering is vital to healing for by remembering, we allow our loved one to live on with us in the world. Express your feelings, and be kind to yourself.   Take comfort in knowing that you are not alone, that people all over the country are united with you on this special day.

A handful of old men walking down the village street
In worn, brushed uniforms, their gray heads high;
A faded flag above them, one drum to lift their feet-
Look again, O heart of mine, and see what passes by!

There's a vast crowd swaying, there's a wild band playing,
The streets are full of marching men, or tramping cavalry.
Alive and young and straight again, they ride to greet a mate again-
The gallant souls, the great souls that live eternally!

A handful of old men walking down the highways?
Nay, we look on heroes that march among their peers,
The great, glad Companions have swung from heaven's byways
And come to join their own again across the dusty years.

There are strong hands meeting, there are staunch hearts greeting-
A crying of remembered names, of deeds that shall not die.
A handful of old men?-Nay, my heart, look well again;
The spirit of America today is marching by!

--Theodosia Pickering Garrison-- 

Friday Musings

Changing the world begins

with the very personal process of changing yourself,

the only place you can begin is where you are,

and the only time you can begin is always now.

-- Gary Zukav--

This starts by spreading the seeds of kindness...a kind word,  a smile, a helping hand to someone in need.... perhaps, they, in return turn, may be inspired to spread their own seeds of kindness.  That is how it begins  By spreading the seeds of kindness, one person can change the world.

Wishing a safe and happy holiday weekend to all of you.

Experiencing the Mysterious

The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. They to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, are as good as dead: their eyes are closed.--Albert Einstein
 

For many of us, the word magic conjures up an image of illusion, such as the magic used by the great magicians. However, rather than true magicians, they are actually just masters at illusion. True magic is the magic that comes from Mother Nature. Think about how you feel when you go to the beach...

...or on a walk through woods...

...or when you dive into a cool mountain lake....

...or when you experience the vibrant colors of the dawn...

...or the beauty of  the sunset...

 ...and find yourself relaxed and at peace with all, you are experiencing the best kind of magic for Nature and all of her mysteries surround us daily...from the birds chirping overhead to the trees blowing in the wind. We are surrounded by the mysterious, the magic of Mother Nature.

And today,  let us all take a moment to join me in the following Interfaith prayer for those who have been in the path of destruction these past several days, 

Father/Mother Creator,

Please comfort all those who have been affected in the tornado belt and their friends and families who live elsewhere. Please let them be strong, and bring their communities together in love, in prayer, and help them care well for each other. Let the healing begin.  Amen.

 

and light a candle at:

http://www.gratefulness.org/candles/enter.cfm?l=eng

Gemini

And starry Gemini hang like growing crowns,
Over Orion's grave low down in the west. 

--Tennyson--

May 21-June 20 (although dates can vary from year to year)

Happy Birthday, Gemini.  This is your month.  Gemini is the third sign of the Zodiac   It is a mutable air sign. The main concern for a Gemini is change, adaptation and communication.  On the plus side, the Gemini person is intelligent, flexible, changeable, and communicative; they don't allow themselves to get locked into rigid patterns or belief systems.  Curious, sociable and  friendly, the Gemini individual is rarely found alone.    On the other hand, Gemini is quite changeable by nature and may, at times, suffer from a lack of focus.  

Gemini is traditionally ruled by the planet, Mercury and is strongly linked to the role of Mercury in Roman mythology who was the light-footed messenger of the Gods. He represents our ability to think, reason, and communicate.  In our charts, he shows us how we process information and exchange ideas with others. The Mercury glyph represents the link between the spirit and matter, and between the soul and personality. It is represented by the crescent, the circle and the cross. It indicates the receptivity of the soul through the exaltation of the spirit over matter. The glyph for Gemini is the Roman Numeral II which symbolizes the sign of twin identities.

More than 6000 years back, the Rig Veda mentions the two primary stars of the Gemini constellation as appearing as  two horseman early at dawn. They were part of the Ashvins known as Sahadeva and Nakula, the youngest of the Pandu princes. During that time, the two stars were only visible at dawn during spring season. This led to the idea that they were twins and linked with the Spring Equinox.

The mythology of the sign Gemini is particularly rich because it involves two sets of twins, one divine and one mortal.  The tale of Castor and Pollux is perhaps the most well-known in ancient mythology.  Both were mothered by Leda, and, therefore, were brothers of Helen, but the twin brothers  were from two different fathers, one being  Leda's official husband, the King of Sparta and the other from the god, Jupiter, who impregnated Leda when he shapeshifted into a swan.  Pollux was Jupiter's son; hence, he was an immortal.  Castor, being the son of the king, was mortal and was famous for his skill with horses....and the two brothers loved each other more than their own lives.  Both brothers were involved in the Jason and Argonauts search of the Golden Fleece  and then fought in the Trojan War, but they never, ever allowed themselves to be separated from one another.

One day Castor, the mortal, was killed, and Pollux was so overcome with grief that he pleaded with Zeus not to separate him from his brother.  Immortality meant nothing to him if it meant that Castor would forever remain in the Underworld.  Zeus relented and allowed the two brothers to remain together.  Thus, it was decided that the twins would spend half their time in heaven and half in the Underworld...and, to this day, the six months of light corresponds to the periods when the constellation of Gemini is visible in the sky.
  

Among the ancients, and particularly among the Romans, there prevailed a superstition that Castor and Pollux often appeared at the head of their armies  and led on their troops to battle and victory.  Thus, they were invoked on the field of battle to insure victory.

Have fought for Rome to-day,

These be the great Twin Brethren

To whom the Dorians pray.

Back comes the chief in triumph

Who, in the hour of fight,

Hath seen the great Twin Brethren

In harness on his right.

--MacCauley--

Castor and Pollux were worshipped both by the Greeks and Romans, who sacrificed white lambs upon their altars to them. In the Hebrew Zodiac the constellation of the Twins refers to the Tribe of Benjamin.  The Egyptians identified the two stars with a pair of young goats who return to their goat herd at dawn, and during the same time period, the twin stars were referred as Gilgamesh and Enkidu by the ancient Babylonians...the  twin brothers and two heroes who fought a series of classic battles against the gods for attaining immortality.  The Arabs saw in this group of stars Two Peacocks, and in Asia, they appeared as the Great Twins and the Heaven and Earth Pair.
 

A Buddhist zodiac had in their place a woman holding a golden cord indicating the idea of the sign...unity.   Castor and Pollux were regarded as twins by the Assyrians, Babylonians, and the Aborigines of the South Pacific Islands.  In Australian tradition, twins known as the Wati- kutjara, the two men, become the constellation Gemini after they performed heroic acts on the earth.  The South African Bushmen called them the Young Women, the wives of the eland,their great antelope.

Thoughts for a Hot, Muggy Tuesday

Cut not the wings of your dreams,

for they are the heartbeat and the freedom of your soul. 

--Flavia--

I realized last night that the graduation came and went on Friday night and I hadn't even mentioned here how well it went.  The ceremony itself was so special, and the food was fantastic...Popeye's chicken, barbecued beef, potato salad, cole slaw, tossed salad, biscuits, and cake.  I did blow my diet some, but who can blame me?  I love Popeye's and potato salad?  It's always been one of my favorite foods, but I never make it at home because I am the only one who eats it.  I only had to give three speeches and one graduate had to work overtime and the other did not show up.  My lone female graduate began to cry as she gave her little speech, and, of course, emotional sponge that I am, tears began flowing freely from my eyes.   But, they were happy tears.

Meanwhile, as you all know, I've not only been watching the exploits of the Decorah eaglets, a baby hummingbird from the day it hatched.  From the day that he hatched, I have been watching Scout, the little hummingbird.  I've watched him grow from the size of a raisin.  Then, from the 19th on we were on a fledge watch.  I kept the window open and checked on and off during the day. The little critter sure did put me through the wringer as I watched on pins and needles waiting for those little wings to carry him off.  Then, the time came for me to go upstairs for the graduation.

Scout was lying peaceful in his nest, eyes drooping after a busy afternoon of rimming.  I won't miss anything.  Surely, he was set for a few hours...or at least that is what I thought.  When the party was over and I came downstairs, and guess what?  The nest was empty.  Little Scout had taken the opportunity to graduate from the nest.  He had taken the next step of growth.

It had been obvious all afternoon that Scout wanted to fly off so badly, but was afraid.  You could see by the way he clung to the rim of the nest, but he continued to work at his fears until he got up the courage to face them. The same holds true for my graduates.  The program is a safety net for them, and it is hard for them to let go and move to another stage of their life, of staying clean and sober without depending on the program.   Some are so afraid of cutting the cord that they will actually relapse so they don't have to go.


Having fear is a part of our life. We all feel it at different points of our lives.  When I moved from my small country home to the city, I was afraid.  I was terrified that I wouldn't be able to make it when I took that step 20 years ago to leave my abusive husband.  Changing careers and going back to school when I hit 50 were no easy tasks either, but I faced the fears that had been holding me back.

We all have fears... facing the unknown, facing new challenges, being alone. .Its when we don't face our fears that we get bogged down. We begin to stagnate; we don't move forward.  In fact, we don't move any place.  We just are.  We don't bloom and grow.  When we live in fear, we do not embrace life...and embracing life is what it is all about. 

"Come to the edge", he said.

They said, "We are afraid".

"Come to the edge", he said.

They came.

He pushed them ...

and they flew.

--Guillauame Apollinaire --

And Life Will Go On

Life is the flash of a firefly in the night. 

It is the breath of the buffalo in the winter. 

It is the little shadow which runs across the grass

and loses itself in the sunset. 

-Crowfoot (Blackfoot)-

As another Monday morning rolls around, I have to wonder where has all the time been going.  Memorial Day, the unofficial beginning of summer is right around the corner, and it seems like only yesterday we were celebrating Labor Day, the unofficial end of summer, and saying good bye to last summer's dreadful heat waves.  And, somewhere in between then and now, Samhain, Yule, New Years, my birthday, Beltane, and Easter have all whizzed by, and today are nothing more than a mere blur.

Speaking of time, the promised Rapture of May 21st passed by without incident, and we are all still here  The earth is intact.  It is really kind of sad...not that we are still here...but the sadness is for those many people out there who were so desperate for something to believe in that they  quit their jobs, gave away all of their belongings, and drained their saving's accounts.   An ex-transit worker here in the city blew his savings and spent $140,000 on advertising proclaiming that the end is near.  The New York newspapers all picture him standing there amongst the crowd, looking bewildered as the bewitching hour passed.  Today, he wonders what happened.  He wanted so much to believe.  "I do not understand," he says.  Meanwhile, all he worked for his entire life is gone.

How many are out there who thought they were spending their last day on earth?  And how many others woke up on Sunday morn with nothing,  having given away all of their worldly goods?  Meanwhile, the self-proclaimed preacher is keeping out of sight; the website to his Family Radio ministry hasn't even been updated  'This office is closed.  Sorry we missed you.' was what his broadcasting network is saying.  It seems he has left his flock high and dry as he either sits back and plans his latest excuse or plots his disappearance...and not as a part of the Rapture, to be sure.  In my opinion, the man should be prosecuted for swindling all those people. 

Yes, it was their choice.  No one twisted their arms.  So why?  Sadly, people have always been easily manipulated by charismatic speakers such as Camping, a man who appears so confident in himself and knowledgeable that people are convinced that what he says is true.  He gathers his followers through personality and charm.  His self-belief is so high, they it becomes easy for others to believe that he is infallible; hence, they are able to manipulate their followers...even when they have received adequate warning from others.  Once under his spell, he then uses what I consider a form of terrorism to keep them in line...'Follow me and experience the Rapture or suffer with the masses.'  I shake my head in wonder because in 1994, his predictions failed as well, and he was still able to convince any number of people that this time it would really happen.

Too many people have been hurt by his false claims, both then and now.  They are the real victims of the false prophet, and they are people just like us.  The climate we live in, with so many destructive and violent things happening in the world, lends itself to people believing that something is going to happen.  They are truly victims--victims of false hope, victims of religious fervor, victims of a man who really has nothing to lose.  Camping is an old man with little to lose. At 89, he has lived a full life  And, you can surely believe he will either disappear altogether with his fortune, or once again blame the math or find some other reason and eventually retire.   He will survive.

And, before long, another charismatic leader will come round to take his place, and the believers will once again assure themselves that they have all the answers for that is the way of the world.  Life will go on.

Seek always for the answers within.
Be not influenced by those around you -
by their thoughts or their words.

-  Eileen Caddy -